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Stop! That! Train!

Coming out of the same studio that gave us RuPaul's Drag Race, and stacked with a whole crew of former contestants, Stop! That! Train! plays like RuPaul basically taking a bow for the entire franchise she's built. It's not really a gay film in the traditional sense, but with so many drag stars from Ru's shows popping up alongside a few cameos from well known out gay actors, I figured it earns a spot on this blog anyway. The whole thing is completely over the top, packed with GenZ slang, loud flashy visuals, and humor that's constantly winking at you knowing how ridiculous it is. Going in you'd assume it's meant to be a laugh riot, and a lot of critics online seem to be eating it up, but I just couldn't get into it at all. I've never really been someone who vibes with campy silly stuff like this, so honestly my reaction doesn't surprise me one bit. The setup follows Tess and DeeDee, two low level stewardesses who sneak onto the fancy Glamazonian E...

Love Me Anyway

Its times like these that make me frustrated. After a gap of few weeks, this is the film that I end up watching, while quietly questioning myself at every step, why am I watching this and what’s the point of this film. The whole film is in conversations between the principal characters and those talks have no meaning or reason. They are pointless. Th film is pretty much nothing about no one.

Esme is having an affair with her girlfriend. We soon find out she is actually married to Eddie. Eddie’s brother Danny, who is gay, is coming to town. He is a porn film maker. So she invites one of her friends Devon, a recent surfer and a newly import to town. Eddie and Esme are going through their issues in marriage despite both in love with each other. Eddie has no idea that his wife is having an affair with another woman. Danny hangs out with Devon but he finds it difficult to read Devon to know whether he is interested in him or not. Mundane conversations continue over the period of time in the film, including time that Esme questions her sexuality and whether she wants to continue to be married or be dedicated to her new girlfriend. And meanwhile Danny is still figuring out what’s going on in Devon’s head. Film ends (?) with Danny going back to his city and Esme decides to break her marriage.

Film’s narrative is quite wobbly and pointless. All the conversations are random, mundane and superficial. Rather than making audience feel connected to the characters, the film does exact opposite. It's hard to care, as a viewer, about where these five characters are going to end up -- together? Apart? Happy? Devastated? Every issue between the parties involved was left unresolved which left me feeling totally frustrated and annoyed. On a brighter note, the actors actually did their job with sincerity. They all have huge potential but the uber close up shots of all of them throughout the narrative and a bad script really restricts their potential.

A completely pointless film, which is a shame because the actors have real potential. (2.5/10)

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